The last few days have been a whirlwind. I began with a professional trip to Denver to share some of my ideas with other educators, and to learn from the wealth of knowledge that was present at the ASCD Conference on Teaching Excellence.
Then, the day after I travelled home, I left with my family to fly to Nashville for a short family vacation for the Fourth of July (quick note: Nashville has one of the best Fourth of July festivals, in my humble opinion).
It was kind of fun to transition between two trips that had two vastly different purposes. That said, they both had (at least) three things in common.
· Community: While my professional trip was about furthering my community of educators, the one to Nashville was about building even stronger bonds within our own family. In both cases, the trips resulted in experiences that will shape all those of us who were in attendance.
· Learning: While the trip to Denver was learning-rich for me, the trip to Nashville was learning-rich for my two daughters. Across the board, we all learned. The key to any trip, whether it be across the world or across the street is to always ask, “How does this make me a more informed, and more valuable, member of society?” That’s what learning is all about.
· Collaboration: Whether working with a colleague to present, or working with my wife to get the kids through the airport, our lives are ruled by collaboration. During both trips, working with others played a tremendous role in how the days went.
While my professional and personal lives are different, there are also many similarities. It was interesting to consider how close they really are to each other in terms of the learning and leadership moves necessary.